unthreateningly
- adverb
- /ʌnˈθrɛtənɪŋli/
:
de manera inofensiva
- The dog wagged its tail unthreateningly as the children approached.
Examples
-
I've been looking somebody in the eye unthreateningly, unaggressively.
-
He has modified his approach and now wants to develop a primer that smoothly (and unthreateningly, he says) integrates evolution into the biology curriculum.
Academic text (2007) -
The ease with which this was accomplished indicates that the dramatic challenges of the images of Israeli/Palestinian confrontation in Lebanon and the inconvenient facts that have since emerged have been reinterpreted to fit unthreateningly into the dominant system of interpretation.
Academic text (1991) -
She smiled unthreateningly, making everyone feel at ease during the meeting.
-
The movie's gentle humor presented its serious themes unthreateningly, allowing viewers to reflect without discomfort.
Synonyms
8
2.3
In a way that does not hurt people or things
1
5.5
In a harmless way that does not upset or hurt people
In a calm way that does not scare people
In a calm way that does not make people worried or upset
Antonyms
How Threatening
Surface Forms
Morphology
unthreateningly = unthreatening (transparent) = un + threaten + ing + ly
The adverb is formed by straightforwardly adding '-ly' to the adjective 'unthreatening' (which itself is 'un-' + 'threatening'), so the negation and adverbial formation are semantically regular.
Etymology
Unthreateningly breaks into three parts: un- meaning 'not', threat meaning 'danger', and -ly which makes it say how something is done. So, to act unthreateningly is to behave 'in a not dangerous way', like smiling or waving to show you mean no harm.